‘South Oaks’ Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc 2015
COLOUR: Bright straw
AROMA: Ripe tropical fruit core with mango, ripe passionfruit and citrus. Lifted notes of dry herbs and lime leaf, supplemented by complex aromas of honeycomb, vanilla bean and roasted hazelnut.
PALATE: This wine displays tension and great length. The palate is tight and fresh, supported with a rich and creamy structure and underlying chalky minerality providing linear structure. The mouthfeel is intense and yet seamless and well balanced.
ANALYSIS: Alc. 14% | pH 3.11 | TA 7.4
WINEMAKER NOTES: The fruit is hand-picked into small baskets. At the winery it is hand sorted then gently whole bunch pressed, and the juice fermented in French oak barriques (20% new oak). After fermentation the wine is aged in French oak barrels on yeast lees for 10 months.
VITICULTURIST NOTES: Vigour and fertility in this block is very low resulting from the high Greywacke rock content. As a result the vines are treated differently to normal Sauvignon Blanc with only 2 canes laid, shoot thinned to 16 shoots, hand leaf plucked with a high 80% exposure. Very small berried and open bunches are typical in this block, with an average cropping level of 2.5 kg per vine. At harvest the berries take on a blush appearance as it is ripened to around 24-25 Brix. One of the secrets to this block is that it holds its acidity level at high brix / ripeness levels.
